After Florida trip, Winooski Mayor O'Brien talks F-35

Residents call for forum

Mayor Michael O’Brien, D-Winooski, provided a summary of his trip to Valparaiso, Fla., to hear the F-35 in action, but stopped short of saying whether he supports basing the planes in Chittenden County.

O’Brien joined Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vt., and Mayor Miro Weinberger, D-Burlington, on the chartered flight last Wednesday. The trip was paid for by the Greater Burlington Industrial Corp., which has endorsed bringing the jets to the Vermont Air Guard.

According to the draft of the Air Force’s Environmental Impact Statement, nearly 2,000 homes in Winooski could be deemed uninhabitable because of noise produced by the new planes.

According to the dEIS, 1,578 homes already lie within the 65 DNL contour. That number could grow to as high as 2,944 under an Air Force scenario, the document said.

A Winooski resident said the numbers crunched by the military are from 2000 Census data. Horace Shaw said with the 2010 Census, 4,200 housing units would be within the 65 day-night average sound level (DNL) area.

“I'm reluctant to start building and remodeling a house here, because I feel that a designation that's unsuitable for residential use will adversely affect my ability to sell these properties,” said contractor and Winooski resident Brock Richardson.

To try to get a sense of the noise, since the F-35 will not test-fly over Vermont, O’Brien accepted an invitation for a seat on the GBIC flight.

He even brought his iPad and downloaded an application to measure sound. He admits his tests are unscientific, but said the trip provided an opportunity to see the planes in action.

He said he was positioned on the air field similar to where Winooski lies in relation to the air guard base.

“It didn't blow my socks off that I heard the F-16 and then the F-35 came and I said 'Oh my God, it's so much louder,’” he said.

According to O’Brien, the F-16 registered at 104 decibels, though it did not fly directly overhead. The F-35, which did fly right over O’Brien, registered a 114-decibel reading, he said.

NewsChannel 5 performed a similar test this fall. We registered 109-decibel and 104-decibel readings for two takeoffs. An F-16 test in South Burlington registered 113.9-decibel and 112-decibel readings. Again, the tests are not scientific and locations differed.

O’Brien like his trip mates, agree the sound from the F-35 is different than the F-16. He said it’s not necessarily louder, but makes a higher-pitched noise.

But now with the trip behind him, some wonder why the mayor hasn’t yet come out for or against the plane. Both Shumlin and Weinberger, and Vermont’s congressional delegation, have said they favor bringing the plane to South Burlington.

“I wasn't out there to make any sort of political statement at all, simply to go down and hear the planes for myself, that's it,” O’Brien said.

The Air Force is scheduled to make its basing decision early in 2013. The official EIS is expected next year as well, which O'Brien said could sway a decision from him.

Some at Monday’s City Council meeting called for the board to ask for Vermont to be taken out of the first round of basing decisions.

The council released a statement in June, saying it wouldn’t support any plane coming to the air guard base that is louder than the F-16.

Winooski has not held a public meeting on the F-35, something neighbors said they want to see happen next year.